Only 20 per cent doctors would perform euthanasia if legal, poll of MDs finds

Sharon Kirkey, Postmedia News02.08.2013

The Canadian Medical Association poll, completed by more than 2,000 doctors, found that only 20 per cent of MDs surveyed said they would be willing to perform euthanasia, while twice as many — 42 per cent — would refuse to do so, according to an article to be published online by the CMA and obtained by Postmedia News.

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Only one in five doctors in Canada would be willing to perform euthanasia if physician-assisted dying were legalized in this country, a survey by the nation’s largest doctors’ group shows.

The Canadian Medical Association poll, completed by more than 2,000 doctors, found that only 20 per cent of MDs surveyed said they would be willing to perform euthanasia, while twice as many — 42 per cent — would refuse to do so, according to an article to be published online by the CMA and obtained by Postmedia News.

Twenty-three per cent of doctors surveyed said they were not sure how they would respond to a request for euthanasia; 15 per cent didn’t answer.

The CMA defines euthanasia as “knowingly and intentionally performing an act that is explicitly intended to end another person’s life” in cases of incurable illness “and the act is undertaken with empathy and compassion.”

The survey also found that nearly half of physicians — 44 per cent — would refuse a request for doctor-assisted suicide.

Canada’s criminal code prohibits euthanasia and assisted suicide, making it an offence to counsel or assist someone to commit suicide, or agree to be put to death. The CMA opposes euthanasia and medically assisted suicide in a policy that has not been updated since 2007.

But the issue has taken on new urgency in the wake of recent developments in several provinces. Last summer, a British Columbia court struck down Canada’s ban on doctor-assisted suicide, ruling it unconstitutional and granting a terminally ill B.C. woman with Lou Gehrig’s disease the right to a physician-assisted death if she could find a willing doctor. Gloria Taylor, the woman at the centre of the court challenge, died in October from a severe infection. The federal government is appealing the B.C. court’s ruling.

In January, the Quebec government signalled its plans to present legislation setting out rules for doctor-assisted deaths, after a panel of legal experts recommended the province permit “medical assistance to die” in rare cases where a patient is close to death and unable to endure the physical or psychological pain.

The results of the CMA survey contrast sharply with public opinion. A poll published in 2011 found that a majority of Canadians — 67 per cent — are in favour of legalizing medically assisted suicide. Yet the very people who would be expected to help carry out this most difficult decision — doctors themselves — are far more uncomfortable with the idea.

According to the survey, 44 per cent of doctors would refuse a request for physician-assisted dying; 16 per cent said they would assist. More than one-quarter (26 per cent) said they were not sure how they would respond; 15 per cent did not answer, according to the CMA.

Euthanasia involves administering a lethal injection of barbiturates with the sole intent to end a life. Doctor-assisted suicide involves prescribing or counselling about a lethal dose of drugs that a patient would then use to kill himself.

More than half of doctors surveyed by the CMA — 59 per cent — said they have withheld a life-sustaining treatment at a patient’s request, which is entirely legal. Every competent adult has the right to refuse any treatment.

One in six doctors (16 per cent) said they have been asked to perform euthanasia within the past five years.

In all, 2,125 doctors completed the online survey in July 2011. With a sample this size, the results are considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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Only 20 per cent doctors would perform euthanasia if legal, poll of MDs finds

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